The German state of Bavaria has opened the country’s first so-called “Anchor Centre”, the brainchild of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, in an attempt to speed up the country’s asylum and deportation process.
The German federal government hopes that the new programme will reduce the time it takes for asylum seekers to be processed, with Interior Minister and leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) Horst Seehofer commenting: “This will enable fast and secure asylum procedures.”
“I am confident that other countries will follow shortly and the anchor facilities will prove to be a model of success,” Seehofer added, according to Berliner Zeitung.
Seven anchor centres will be set up in Bavaria, located in Donauwörth, Zirndorf, Regensburg, Deggendorf, Schweinfurt, Bamberg, and Manching, and will determine whether or not an asylum seeker has a legitimate claim and whether they should be deported from Germany.
While some accused Seehofer of wanting to keep migrants in the new centres for an extended period of time, migrants will likely only be kept in the anchor centres for a maximum of 18 months, and families that have minor children staying for a maximum of six months.
The goal of the project is to make sure the migrants have a rightful asylum claim before redistributing them to local authorities. Several agencies will be represented in the centres including the Federal Agency for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and the Federal Employment Agency.
Seehofer’s new migrant plan caused some controversy with coalition ally and head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Chancellor Angela Merkel who initially rejected part of Seehofer’s plan.
The conflict threatened to potentially shatter the grand coalition government in June, but after several high profile meetings, including with other European Union member state leaders, Merkel was able to come to terms on the issue with the Interior Minister.
Bavaria has been one of the most hardline regions in Germany on migrant policy. In June, Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder said that even without the support of the federal government he would work towards deporting illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers from Bavaria.